After avenging his family's brutal murder by renegade Union troops, Missouri farmer Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) finds himself on the run. Riding west, he is joined by a growing group of colorful outcasts, including a memorable Chief Dan George, an aging hound dog, and Sondra Locke in her first role with Eastwood. What begins as a cliché frontier revenge flick evolves into a multicultural allegory about the healing of America, as Eastwood, who also directs, successfully transitions from action star to serious filmmaker in this complex and satisfying 1976 Western, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Jerry Fielding's musical score.